difference between package.json and package lock.json

Packages.json and package-lock.json are both files used by npm, a package manager for Node.js. The package.json file is used to store information about an application's dependencies. It contains project metadata such as the name, version, and license of the application. It also contains lists of the project's dependencies, dev-dependencies, and peer-dependencies.

The package-lock.json file is produced when dependencies are installed. This file is used to store the exact version of each package that was installed. It also contains information about the packages that each dependency depends on, including their exact version numbers. This ensures that the exact same versions of packages are installed on all machines, preventing unexpected bugs and conflicts.

In summary, package.json is used to store information about the application's dependencies and package-lock.json is used to store the exact versions of each package that was installed.